Yuri's Night is a worldwide grassroots effort to celebrate humanity's exploration of space with music, imagery, and dance. Every year on April 12 young people around the world join in a celebration to share the wonder of space.

April 12 is the 40-year anniversary of
Yuri Gagarin's historic flight around the Earth, making him the first human in space (as well as the 20th anniversary of the first space shuttle flight). This flight opened up the dream of space flight to all people: Astronauts orbiting Earth see no borders, no countries, just one planet, one people. It is this perspective that space enthusiasts want to share with the youth of the world during the celebration of the planet and the future.

The first Yuri's Night celebration was held April 12, 2001, in 64 cities in 29 countries on all seven continents. This year's Yuri's Night celebration plans to expand to over 100 interconnected parties around the planet.

Last year, the individual Yuri's Night celebrations ranged from a large dance party that attracted over 1500 people in Los Angeles to a symbolic toast at a research station in the South Pole to a picnic under the cherry blossoms in Japan. The goal of Yuri's Night is to inspire young people around the world to celebrate space. Through Yuri's night, space becomes the possession of not only governments and space agencies but of the youth who will shape the future of space and therefore the future of the world.

Yuri's Night in the San Francisco Bay Area will be be a celebrated as a rave. "This is probably one of the few events young people can go to experience a positive view of the future," says Yuri's Night SF Coordinator Sam Coniglio. "The youth of today are worldly wise, and rave music is this generation's symbol of one planet, one people. Positive energy and new ideas are what we as space activists want to educate people about. This is a space party, not a space convention. We want people to have fun, and if we get them curious about space, all the better."

Most importantly, the party will be webcast over the Internet, so the energy and enthusiasm can be shared by all. Coordinator Sam Coniglio is looking for volunteers. He can be reached at spaceman@mindspring.com.